Legacy Documentation: Version 5.2
Practical Guide to Optimization for Mobiles
Graphics Methods

Future & High End Devices

The graphical power of next-generation mobile devices is approaching that of the current generation of consoles (Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3). What will the consumer smartphone market look like in two years? It’s hard to say for sure, but considering how things have been going, the average smartphone on the market will have a chipset about as fast as NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 (Asus Transformer Prime, Google Nexus 7"), or Apple’s A5X (iPad 3), and high-end tablets will pack graphical performance to rival today’s consoles and consumer laptops.

What can these new devices do?

  • Bumpmaps everywhere
  • Reflective water and simple image effects
  • Realtime shadows
  • HD video playback
  • Faster script execution

To get a sense of what is already being done for this coming generation of phones and tablets, watch NVIDIA’s promotional video for Tegra 3. Bladeslinger and Shadowgun are Unity titles.

Practical Guide to Optimization for Mobiles
Graphics Methods